04 September 2009

Random Beer Roundup - The Pools are Closed and Schools are Open Edition

This highly anticipated long weekend is almost here! I can almost taste the mouth-puckering goodness of those Lambics already. Hopefully there will be some left by the time we get there!

There are a lot of events scheduled this month in the Indiana beer community. If there is something coming up that is not listed, we would love to hear about it! If you have any news, reviews, info, etc., to share for our next Random Beer Roundup, contact us at hoosierbeergeek@gmail.com.

On tap at Lafayette Brewing Co. this weekend: Ouiatenon Wit Bier; Prophet's Rock Pale Ale; East Side Bitter; Pipers' Pride Scottish Ale; Tippecanoe Common Ale; Eighty-Five; Black Angus Oatmeal Stout; and Collaboration Java Porter. Weeping Hog IPA is the current cask conditioned selection. We'll also be releasing our latest specialty beer, I Am An American IPA, on Saturday. The IAAA IPA is best described as the bastard stepchild of our Tippecanoe Common Ale and our Eighty-Five. Plenty of pale and a touch of crystal malt produce just enough body to support the 75 ibus worth of Chinook hops that we used to bitter and dry hop the brew. Resinous pine and citrus aromas blast out of this hoppy ale. ABV 5.9% IBUs 75

More things will be hopping around LBC and Lafayette, in general, this weekend. In addition to the kickoff game of Purdue's football season, two highly successful festivals will be combining efforts in downtown Lafayette as Mosey Thru Layflats hits the town. The day begins with Layflats free arts and music festival at Tapawingo Park on the Levee in West Lafayette. At 6 pm, the festivities will move across the river to the Mosey Down Main street fair on Main Street. There will be several stages for live music and kiosks of arts & craft vendors and local food vendors the length of Main St. Folks can even purchase a 1-liter or 1/2-gallon growler from LBC and mosey down the street with it! For late-night fun, Layflats continues with live music at 8 downtown venues accessible via the purchase of a wristband for only 5 bucks. The late-night line-up at LBC consists of Rick DeSutter & the Clutter; Double A Daddies; Ben Ezra; and The Millers (of America's Got Talent fame). If you're football fan, a music lover, or just enjoy a good festival atmosphere, Lafayette is a good bet for big fun this weekend!

- Crown Brewing in Crown Point will be having its 1st ever Crown Challenge Pro-Am Competition on September 26th.

The Crown Challenge is an AHA/BJCP sanctioned competition and provides an opportunity to have your homemade beer evaluated by BJCP (www.bjcp.org) ranked judges and/or judges with experience in evaluating beers. The winning beer across all categories (Best of Show) will have the opportunity to be scaled up and brewed in Crown Brewing’s 7-bbl system. Beers placing first, second, and third in each flight will also be recognized.

The competition will be held on Saturday, September 26th at the Crown Brewery (www.crownbrewing.com), in Crown Point, Indiana. Judging will take place in two sessions (9am-NOON and 1pm-4pm). Winners of each category and Best of Show will be announced at an awards ceremony at the conclusion of the competition. Entrants and a guest are invited to attend the awards ceremony, which will follow the conclusion of the Best of Show judging, or as soon as possible after 5pm. Entrants and guests wishing to attend the ceremony will register upon arrival at Crown Brewing on the day of the competition. Everyone attending the awards ceremony will be given a raffle ticket for a free chance to win door prizes.

An Oktoberfest event is scheduled to take place at Crown Brewing after the Challenge.

Our Oktoberfest comes out on September 10th. Tasting room will be open Thurs. 5-7, Fri. 3-7, and Sat 1-4. We will be doing tours and people will be able to sample our beers and buy to-go growlers or kegs.

- All Mad Anthony locations will be open this Labor Day and as we do every Monday we will be serving half price pints of MadBrew.

- Join Mad Anthony and the Brewers of Indiana Guild Saturday Sept 19th for our annual Octobeerfest. The beer festival which is held in the Mad Anthony Brewing Co's parking lot in Fort Wayne will offer samples of over 40 Indiana Microbrews as well as beers from the Fort Wayne Homebrew Club, and Belmont Beverage. Tickets are $25.00 in advance or $30.00 on the day of the event. The price of admission includes a complimentary tasting glass with unlimited beer samples from 2pm -6pm, a free t-shirt for the first 300 paid guest, and live music by The Melissa Neels Band. Food will be offered for sale by Shigs In Pit Competition BBQ Team. Tickets are now available at all Mad Anthony locations, Don Hall's Guesthouse, The Bike Depot, & Belmont Beverage Liquor Stores.

The Weizen-Bock is on tap. This wheat beer is the last of our “Summer of Wheat” series, and it is a great one. Best way to describe it is double Uberweizen. Maltier than our traditional wheat beer with twice the clove and banana flavors.

We sold out of the Hofbrau Oktoberfest 5 liter mini kegs already! They went fast. Still have plenty of 6 packs in the warehouse!

Left Hand 400 pound Monkey IPA is on tap at the Old Town Ale House in Fishers!

The Stone 09-09-09 arrived at the warehouse on Thursday and is ready to be allocated next week! We received less cases than last year so it may be harder to find this year. We also got some kegs of the 09-09-09 for the 1st time ever!

Also look for a limited amount of cases and kegs of Cali Belgique IPA to pop up soon as a limited amount of it arrived on the Stone truck yesterday as well.

- Saranac is now available through World Class Beverages. Below is an image of the Matt Brewing company which supplies Saranac. WCB will carry the following brands: Octoberfest, Pale Ale, Pumpkin, Trail Mix, Pomegranate Wheat and 12 Beers A Falling!

Heady with a aromatic fruity start and taste, this amber ale features hints of pear and apricot in its well-nuanced flavor. The initial impression of fruitiness concludes in a refreshing dryness that begs you to sip again. Be fore-warned, this ale is immense as it registers 12% abv.

KOTBR #90 - Medal Winners - We visit Barley Island and Brugge Brasserie in Broad Ripple to try some medal winning beers. Things get interesting when we are joined by some special guests, including Michael Phelps, Rob Halford, Glenn Danzig, and Brugge's very own Ted Miller.

Beer: The Pedal Pusher's Potion - Our first in depth feature receives support from Dogfish Head, Left Hand, Breckenridge Brewery, and Smuttynose, and draws in hits from hundreds of cyclists looking for a beer buzz.